As we mark today the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, it is worth reminding the world community about its utmost responsibilities to protect impoverished people from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The DRC has been plagued by instability for decades. This vast country of 71 million suffers from endemic poverty as a consequence of conflicts, wars, instability, and the illegal exploitation of mineral resources, and weak governance that has created vacuums of power politically, militarily and financially in the regions far from the capital city of Kinshasa. This has allowed a kaleidoscope of militant groups, militias and rebel groups such as M23, Lord Resistance Army, Mai-Mai Rebel Movement, FDLR Hutu Rebel Movement (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and any other obscure and emerging Islamic militant group, jihadists and terrorists already roaming eastern DRC to assert power and commit widespread human rights abuses against civilians, war crimes, crimes against humanity and even genocide. Western donors, including the UK, should increase their humanitarian assistance to the DRC, and the Department for International Development should play a key role in helping to address the huge scale of humanitarian needs there given that the UK is now the largest bilateral donor to the DRC, thanks to the last Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, making the UK has become a key player in the Great Lakes region of Africa.
In order to allow more multilateralism for the sake of the DRC’s stabilisation, the time has come for the DRC to use its geographical position and join the Commonwealth of Nations, which is a treaty organisation. This would be worthwhile as it will allow the DRC to use all the geopolitical dynamics surrounding DRC to maximise boosting trade, commercial exchanges and economic development in the region to tackle poverty and underdevelopment in the Great Lakes region of Africa (DRC, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi). The DRC is surrounded by nine countries and five out of these nine countries are English speaking countries and members of the Commonwealth. Joining the Commonwealth would help the DRC to strengthen its ties with those five Commonwealth countries that surround the DRC and this will be significant going forward. Having said that, Ivan Lewis MP Labour’s now former shadow secretary of state for international development and Ian Lucas MP as Labour’s shadow minister for Africa were both very supportive to the DRC, helping and supporting the development of the Congolese diaspora in the UK and they promised to increase their focus on stabilising the DRC going forward, something which I am sure the new team will continue.
The Labour party as a political party with a vocation for world peace should strongly condemn the M23, the FDLR, the ADF, the APCLS, the LRA, the National Force of Liberation, the various Mayi-Mayi groups and all other armed groups roaming in eastern DRC and their continuing violence and abuses of human rights, including summary executions, gender-based and sexual violence. All forms of violence and destabilising activities should immediately cease and all militias should permanently disband and lay down their weapons to give peace a chance. A tough message should be sent to those responsible for human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law that they will be held to account and should not be eligible for integration into the national army or other elements of state security forces that need to be rebuilt as there are still many challenges in rebuilding the Congo’s state institutions
The situation is further complicated by valuable mineral resources as the DRC’s illegal exploitation of its natural resources by militias and rebel fighters is fuelling war and conflicts. Despite being one of the least developed nations on earth, the DRC is home to immense mineral deposits. Criminal activities help divert some of these riches into the coffers of militias, or across borders to foreign entities, therefore hindering international efforts for the DRC’s stabilisation process. It is ironic to see the DRC with its vast mineral resources while its people are impoverished. The international community should continue to emphasise their full support to the UN Group of Experts on tackling the illegal exploitation of DRC’s minerals established by resolution 1533 (2004) and calling for enhanced cooperation between all States, particularly those in the region as MONUSCO (DRC UN Stabilisation and Reconstruction Mission) and the Group of Experts have encouraged further that all parties and all states ensure cooperation with the Group of Experts by individuals and entities within their jurisdiction or under their control.
Decades of conflicts and wars in the DRC have triggered one of the worst humanitarian disasters since the second world war and there is a huge humanitarian demand for food, medical suppliers, clean water, shelter, clothes and sanitation for millions of internally displaced people in eastern DRC. The international community should do more to address the worsening humanitarian situation that continues to severely affect the civilian population, in particular in eastern DRC. The situation there is still deeply troubling as unspeakable violence is still being inflicted upon the population, with women and children continuing to bear the brunt after years of turmoil. The international community should be deeply committed to rooting out violent and destabilising forces as the human tragedy in eastern DRC is an exceptional situation that requires exceptional measures
On security issues and in order to reaffirm its basic principles of peacekeeping, the UN Security Council adopted in March 2013 a historic resolution authorising for the first time an intervention brigade to neutralise, disarm, disband and arrest all rebel groups and militias roaming in eastern DRC for peace to prevail. This resolution has come to reinforce the security sector reform on achieving disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration, repatriation and resettlement and with a proper use of multilateralism forces such the Commonwealth of Nations setting up a stabilisation force to support this UN Combat Brigade, full disarmament in eastern DRC will be speedily achieved. This new brigade, which will be made up of troops from across the continent, including Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique will consist of three battalions, or approximately 3,000 troops and has an operative authorization that will last one year. This force is important to the region and that is why it should be enlarged with more troops at least 5,000 troops, given the huge task ahead and its mandate should be extended beyond 2015 to finish the job of disarming all the militias.
As this is a crucial time for the DRC, given that the country needs more attention from the international community, more focus from its international allies, more reporting and of course more UK engagement going forward, I would urge the international community, the UK, other western powers, the African Union, the European Union and the Commonwealth of Nations and also international donors to:
1. Call on MONUSCO to coordinate strategies with other UN missions in the region for enhanced information-sharing in light of the attacks by militias and rebel groups
2. Reaffirm a strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the DRC and emphasising the need to fully respect the principles of non-interference, good-neighbourliness and regional cooperation
3. Pressurise the DRC’s government to hold free, fair, transparent and democratic presidential, parliamentary and local elections and not to change the DRC’s constitution in the middle of the game
4. Urge international donors to commit more money to the DRC to address the humanitarian disaster unfolding
5. Urge the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to set up a meeting with the UN envoy to eastern DRC Mary Robinson with the Congolese diaspora in the UK
6. Focus more on the forthcoming presidential elections in the DRC in 2016 by providing much needed fund to hold these elections and allow more international and European observers to participate to ensure credible elections
7. Network with regional countries on achieving full disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration and repatriation of foreign fighters
8. Monitor the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework to make progress on peace
9. Urge the UK political class, including the Labour party to focus more and articulate a new foreign policy on the DRC with more British engagement with the DRC to ensure stabilisation
10. Urge Commonwealth countries to support the DRC’s bid to join the Commonwealth of Nations
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Jean-Roger Kaseki is Labour councillor in the London borough of Islington and chair of Congolese for Labour
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